Ball valve safety pilot bueneb



Nov. 15, 1949 F. R. HIGLEY BALL VALVE SAFETY PILOT BURNER 2 Shee'ts-Sheet l Filed Aug. 19, 1944 INVENTOR.

NOV; 15, 1949 R, H 2,487,969

' BALL VALVE SAFETY PILOT BURNER 25heets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 19, 1944 Q mm \ &

g 33 z INVENTOR.

/kA/VK A? Hlgli PM Nov. is. 1949 BALL VALVE SAFETY PILOT BURNER.

Frank B. Higley, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, as-

signer, by mesne assignments, to

Affiliated Gas Equipment, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application August 1a, 1944, Serial No. 550,176 1 Claim. (or. Ilsa-117.1)

This invention relates to improvements in valves, more particularly a safety valve for a burner control thermally responsive to the flame from a pilot which is disposed in or upon a pilot arm that is rigid with the valve casing. In some of its aspects the invention constitutes an improvement over my copending application, Serial No. 533,309, flied April 29, 1944.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a valve casing so chambered as to provide a how path characterized by a single bend which is disposed in a plane generally perpendicular to the pilot arm, with a valve of a character such that it will not interfere with the free flow of gas along that path.

Another object is the provision of a unit for the purpose statel, in which the valve shall occupy a relatively small space. having small dimensions particularly in the vertical direction and-in the direction away from the oven wall.

Still another object is the provision of thermally responsive valve actuating means such that when it is heated and consequently in weakened condition, it is substantially unloaded.

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as I proceed with the description of that embodiment of the invention which, for the purposes of the present application, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a unit embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the same.

Fig. 4 is a fragmental side view of the unit inverted, looking in the direction of arrow 4 in Fig. 5 is an end view looking in the direction of arrow 6, Fig. 1. a

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 01' Fig. 2, illustrating the automatic safety valve and a portion of its actuating means.

Figs. 7 and 8 are sectional views, transverse to that of Fig. 6 and taken substantially on the lines 1-1 and 6-6, respectively, of Fig. 6.

Figs. 9 and 10 are detail sectional views, taken substantially on the lines 6! and lt-ili, respectively, of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 11 is a horizontal sectional view of the valve taken 'substantially'on the line il-il of Fig. 5, showing the throw of the ball engaging crankarm between valve closing and valve opening positions.

The construction disclosed comprises two main parts,avalvecasingilandapilotarmll.'The

pilot arm is preferably cast integral with the base I! of the casing, the latter including also a cover It. The base I! of the casing has a bottom inlet opening I! therein which may be threaded or otherwise constituted to receive a gas supply pipe or tube. The cover is has an end outlet opening 2i threaded or otherwise formed to receive a pipe or tube leading to a main burner. not shown. The axes of the two openings II and 2i in the illustrated embodiment lie in the same plane, which is preferred, but a slight oilset of one axis with respect to the other would be within thespirit of the invention.

received in threaded holes in the cover, the

fastening 24 being disposed at the end of the casing opposite the outlet opening 2i and the fastenings 26 and 26 being disposed at the sides of the casing near the outlet opening. The three point bearing of these fasteninss upon the casing elements is, of course, desirable for eifecting a good seal. Furthermore, the fastenings when 3 thus disposed are entirely out of the way, the

single one 24 being at the end of the casing outside the path of flow of gas therethrough, and the two fastenings 26 and 26 being at the sides of that path where they do not constrict flow.

The inlet opening I! is connected with the valve chamber 21 by a bore 28, at the top of which there is a circular valve seat 29 in which a ball valve it normally rests for cutting oil the flow of gas between the inlet and outlet openings.

An important feature of the invention is the arrangement of parts such that the valve may be opened by a slight movement upwardly and to the left, as seen in Fig. 6, in other words away from the openings l8 and 2i. Because of this arrangement a minimum movement of the ball aflords a full opening of the valve with a single bend only in the path of now.

A further feature of the invention is that the actuating means within the chamber 21 is disposed at the bottom of the chamber in the angle between the inlet and outlet openings where it substantially clears the path of flow of the gas.

aaeaoco a crankarm 33, the end of which is adapted to contact ball 30 to effect opening movement thereof, by its own movement, toward and approximately to the center of the valve seat opening 29, the crank arm 33 moving in a plane closely adjacent that of this opening.

When the valve is closed, the arm 33 extends somewhat to one side of the plane defined by the axis of crankshaft 3i and the center of the ball, but in opening the valve, the arm 83 is caused to move toward that plane and in the fully opened position it lies in that plane. Thus in the open position the load of the ball is directly down upon the crankarm 33, assisting in main-: taining the seal around the top of shaft 3i. There is then no horizontal component acting to force arm 33 in one direction or the other, and therefore no load is transferred to the thermally responsive member by which the shaft 89 is turned, which member is weakest when heated as it must be when the valve is open.

At the junction between. the casing ii and the pilot arm 55 there is an enlargement in which is formed a threaded opening 3'5 for the reception of a tube through which pilot gas is supplied. Opening 35 communicates with a laterally extending portion all of a cored-out passage 38 running lengthwise of the arm, The other end of the arm has lateral extensions 3% and to, the extension 39 having a laterally projecting branch passage M which may be threaded to receive a screw 42. This disposition of the branch part 3? of the pilot gas passage in the same plane with the branch part M has the manufacturing advantage that in casting the pilot arm the core for the gas passage therethrough may be supported in core prints disposed in the same plane. A branch passage 63 at the far end of the passage 38 supplies gas to ports at and t5. Ports 36 supply gas for heating a thermally responsive member 41 which is mounted upon the extension 39 by means of the screw t2. Other suitably disposed ports, such as the ports 48 of Fig. 1, may be employed for communicating flame from the ports dB or 45 to the ports 46. The thermally responsive member 41 is of the compensated laterally defleeting type and deflects away from the pilot arm I6, subject to pilot flame, to actuate the bell crank parts 3|, 33 and 60 in valve opening direction, which is counterclockwise in Fig. 3 and clockwise in Fig. 11. A member of this kind suitable for the purpose is fully disclosed and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 542,657, filed June 29, 1944.

A port 50, Fig. 3, communicating with passage 38 near valve casing l5, may be ignited by any convenient means, as for example by flash from another flame conducted through suitable flash tubing connected with an opening surrounded by a flange 52 struck up from a sheet metal cover 53 mounted on the pilot arm. It is within the spirit of the invention to ignite the gas from port 50 by any other suitable means, however, including electrical means.

Cover 53 has a bifurcated portion 54 which extends beneath the head of screw 42 for supporting the cover at one end, its opposite end being attached to the pilot arm l6 by a screw 55. The cover projects to one side of the pilot arm and has a downturned flange for the protection of the thermally responsive member 41 and as a shield for that member against heat radiated from the oven burner. The cover also projects laterally in the opposite direction, where it has a. downturned and inturned flange to constitute a flash tube through which flame is flashed from port 60 to flash port 44, see Figs. 9 and 10. Port d5 is an igniting port for an oven burner, not herein shown. A suitable bracket 56 varying in size and form for installation in different ranges, has a perforated end disposed between the thermally responsive member 41 and the bifurcation 5 3 of the cover and held by the screw M. In addition to its function as securing means for the thermal member at, the bracket 56 and the cover at, screw (it serves as a plug or closure for the branch core passage M.

Thermally responsive member A! is shown in the drawing in its unheated condition. At its free end, .which extends beneath the base ll of the flange casing, it may have an angularly disposed extremity 60 perforated to receive an arm 6! mounted in the exposed portion of the crankshaft 3 l. The arm 33 within the valve casing, the shaft 35, and the arm 50 outside the casing thus constitute bell crank means effective through the casing wall. The free end of the member 3? is prevented from moving downwardly by its connection with arm El. It is prevented from moving upwardly, and from moving the crankshaft 3i upwardly to a like extent, by a narrow depending flange 62 on a small sheet metal bracket 63 which is attached to the base of the casing by the head of screw 26. The heads of screws 2 and 25 may be similarly employed for screwing to the base ill a bracket 64 of any suitable form and size for attachment of the casing to a range. A second relatively wider depending flange on the small bracket 63 protects the free end of member ll, including the extremity 6B. A downwardly projecting guard t6 formed integral with the base H protects the lower end of crankshaft 3!, while this guard and the flange 65 together protect the arm 8! of the crank.

A projection 67 extending downwardly from the inner surface of the cover l8 limits the upward movement of ball 30, while permitting a tilting movement of the ball in a diagonal direction upwardly and toward the left, as viewed in Fig. 6.

. The projection 61 is especially useful in preventing movement of the ball while the valve is being handled or transported.

The operation of the unit will be clear to those skilled in the art, particularly when taken in connection with the disclosures in my copending applications Serial No. 533,309 and Serial No. 542,657, above mentioned. In the cold position of the thermally responsive member 41 the ball 30 is seated and the free end of the actuating arm 33 is adjacent but out of engagement with the ball. It then stands outside of the plane defined by the center of the ball, or the center of its seat, and the axis of shaft 3|. member 41 is heated by flames from ports 46 it swings away from those ports and turns shaft 3| in the clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 11. The end of the arm 33 then engages the ball, the point of contact gradually moving toward the plane mentioned above. When this point of contact has arrived in that plane, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 11, the valve is fully opened, the ball having been tilted upwardly upon the far edge of its seat, that is, away from the end opening 2| of the casing. The action of the arm 33 relative to the ball and that part of the seat about which it tilts is like that of a toggle. When the open position is reached, the load due to the weight of the ball is transmitted along the length of the arm 33 and downwardly upon the arm. Hence, in the heated condition When the chamber 21 hugs the bottom thereof and does not extend upwardly into the flow path.

It will be appreciated that this entire unit must be subjected to high tempe a re, since it is to be located entirely within an oven. At the same time, the flow of gas through the chamber 3'! tends to cool the interior surfaces of the casing. The condition of .a highly heated outersurface and a cooled inner surface places a heavy strain upon the metal of the casing, havinga'tendency towardwarpage of the casing. The very simple form of my casing, however, having no internal webs or other protruding parts. minimizes wa'rpage.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In apparatus for the purpose described. a main burner valve casing having a horizontally. dis-' posed valve seat and being chambered to provide a flow path characterized by a bend in an upright plane between inlet and outlet openings by way of the opening of said valve seat. a ball valve for said seat, a pilot arm extending laterally from said casins perpendlclflarly to said plane and having pilot burner means, a laterally defleeting thermally responsive member mounted on said arm adjacent the end thereof remote I from said casing to be responsive to said pilot burner means, said member extending from said end alongside said arm toward the casing, bell crank means mounted in said casing for movement about an upright axis and having an arm arranged outside said casing for actuation by said thermally responsive member, and an arm arranged within said casing for movement in a plane adjacent the plane of said valve seat for end engagement with said valve to effect opening movement thereof in a direction away from said p FRANK R. mam.

REFERENCES crrsn The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number -Name Date 1,034,995 Gannon Aug. 6, 1912 1,097,416 Fraser May 19, 1914 1,099,032 Fraser June 2,1914 1,423,750 Brombacher July 25, 1922 1,680,263 Gauger Aug. 7, 1928 1,855,106 Gonyk Apr. 19, 1932 1,910,230 Bastian May 23, 1933 2,250,220 Cloutier July 22, 1941 2,336,700 Pepersack Dec. 14, 1943 2,362,011 Jeifers Nov. 7, 1944 2,362,272 Higley et a1. Nov. 7, 1944 1 2,420,078 Higley May 6, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS 85 Number Country Date 272,034 Great Britain June 9, 1927 605,742 Germany Nov. 17, 1934 

